Above photo: Yousof Azizi with his young son. Free Funder.
Targeted by the Trump Administration for being Iranian.
Maryland – Without warning, on April 13, after returning home from dropping off his 11 year-old daughter at school and his 3 year-old son at daycare, public policy PhD student Yousof Azizi was abducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in front of his home in Germantown, MD on fabricated charges regarding his visa status. Azizi and his wife, Aliyeh Hashemi, who recently completed her PhD in the field of health, have been living in the United States for over a decade and have complied with all visa requirements throughout that time. Both of their children were born in the United States.
Azizi was initially taken to a detention center in Baltimore, MD. Over the next five days, he was shuffled between ICE detention centers in Louisiana, then Texas, then back to Louisiana and finally to a facility close to the US-Mexico border in Arizona. Throughout his travels, his basic needs for food and rest were denied. He is currently being held in a crowded cell where detainees must sleep on the concrete floor without even a sheet, mat or pillow. His wife told WUSA9: “They are being held in a small place with many other people, most of whom are sick and coughing or sneezing badly.”
Azizi was invited to study public policy in a masters program at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor after completing his undergraduate and masters degrees in chemical engineering from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran. He worked as a Research Assistant for the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC. He is currently completing his PhD at Virginia Tech’s School of Public & International Affairs in Arlington, VA where his focus is on US foreign policy decision-making and Iran’s nuclear program.
Due to his expertise on US-Iranian relations, Azizi was frequently invited as a commentator on major news outlets such as CNN and the BBC. It is believed that he is being targeted over these guest appearances. Hashemi told WUSA9, “The real problem is that he spoke up about the war. This status story is just an excuse.” His wife describes him as an academic who is respected for his insightful analysis.
The Department of Homeland Security is refusing to release Azizi on bond, even though his lawyer has demonstrated that he has a valid visa. At this time, he is being ordered to stay in detention far from his family until his hearing four months from now on August 26. Hashemi reports that their two young children are struggling with the sudden absence of their father.
A Yousof Azizi Defense Committee, led by Dan Kovalik, Ajamu Baraka, Bahman Azad, Sara Flounders, Ali Alizadeh, Suzanne Adely, Margaret Flowers and Joe Lombardo, is advocating for his release and is raising funds to support his legal defense. In addition to signing the petition below, the public is being asked to spread the word and to contact members of Congress to demand his immediate release.
Click Here to Sign the Petition for his Release
Yousof Azizi is a political prisoner being held illegally because he is Iranian and because he is a news commentator. This violation of his human rights and right to free speech should serve as a stark reminder that state repression is rising in the United States without regard for the law. We can counter that repression through our solidarity with Yousof Azizi and all who are being illegally detained by the state.
